Indian professor: “Women, Life, Freedom” is an important, universal message

On August 9, an Indian doctor was raped and then murdered in the city of Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal. This crime sparked widespread public outrage, especially among women and doctors. On the 18th of this month, the Indian Doctors Association called a strike, announced the suspension of all non-urgent services in all hospitals in the country and gave the authorities 72 hours to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The slogan “Woman, Life, Freedom” was omnipresent during the protests in Kurdish and Hindi. Professor Anuradha Shenoy from Jawaharlal Nehru University in India spoke about the women's protests in Iran.

This event is different.

Anuradha Shenoy pointed out the increase in crimes against women in India and the world, especially in the “third world countries”, and pointed out that the recent events were different from the previous ones: “This event is different and it is characterized by the fact that the crimes are being exposed in a dramatic way, that women and social movements are protesting against these crimes, that the police had previously tried to cover up these crimes and that the families tried to cover up the crimes that the women were subjected to because they said that the honor was sullied and that they did not support the victims.”

Anuradha Shenoy stated that the department of the medical college did not provide any evidence of the crime and the police reported that the victim probably died by suicide and that the correct original information was not included in the report. The crime was covered up. Shenoy stated that the family of the murdered doctor, her parents, colleagues, relatives and friends made a lot of noise and did not keep their mouths shut about the crime, told the press about it and made efforts to expose the police and the university and arrest the criminals.

“Massive protests”

Anuradha Shenoy highlighted the need to investigate crimes against women and said, “The institution where the crime took place must take responsibility. The police must be held accountable. The safety of women must be ensured.”

Professor Anuradha Shenoy explained that the slogan 'Women, Life, Freedom' is a global message and that women's issues and demands are global. “Women's movements are also global. We hope that the protests will lead to greater safety for women in all sectors of society. There is a high risk that they will have an impact and lead to reforms in the police force to ensure women's safety. In India, there are laws against sexual abuse and of course also on women's safety, which can be strengthened.”

T/ Satt.

ANHA